Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis accused them on Wednesday of targeting Islam’s holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world. The Houthis swiftly rejected as a “lie” Riyadh’s statement that it had shot down a drone heading towards Mecca, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year. Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has dragged in the kingdom, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on its ships in the Red Sea.
Last week, the Houthis seized control of the entirety of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz shipping route. “The claims about targeting Mecca are a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone,” Hazem al-Assad from the Houthi politburo wrote on X. “I saw a few people panicking, running to the window to see what happened,” a Mecca resident who asked for anonymity told AFP. “I think the alarm system creates panic…Life is normal in Mecca, and there have been previous incidents in Mecca so this isn’t the first one.”
Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of launching attacks towards Mecca in an earlier conflict. The Saudi coalition has vowed retaliation, saying that “the security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line.” “The coalition will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the Terrorist Houthi Militia.” Saudi Arabia had issued brief alerts on Tuesday over possible attacks in Mecca and across parts of the south. “I won’t hide that we were scared,” a second Mecca resident, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP, “or you can say surprised.” “Aren’t they Muslims? They’re targeting the holiest city. What’s inside to target?”
Mecca hosts a large number of security forces, responsible for crowd control and securing the holy sites, particularly during the annual hajj gathering. During this year’s pilgrimage, the Saudi defence ministry released a video showing advanced air defence batteries positioned on the outskirts of Mecca. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation — a bloc of 57 Muslim countries — condemned the “heinous attacks…against the city of Mecca and the Madinah region.” Fighting flared in July when the Houthis, who have for years controlled swathes of northern Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive against government forces. The conflict in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country has forced 82,000 people to flee their homes since the start of September, according to the United Nations.
Yemen’s permanent representative at the UN, Abdullah al-Saadi, said the government was fighting to restore “national institutions across every inch” of the country, and called on the international community to take action against the Houthis. Saadi’s plea came as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for free navigation in the Red Sea. De facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Tuesday for “ensuring the freedom and security of maritime navigation” through Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
The revival of Yemen’s civil war, dormant since 2022, has left Riyadh scrambling to respond. US media reported last week that the Saudi crown prince made a personal request to President Donald Trump for US intervention, but was turned down. The Houthis have insisted there is no threat to navigation in Bab al-Mandab except for Saudi vessels, but any attacks in the waterway are likely to make it less attractive to shippers. Disruption in the strait could cause Egypt to feel the pinch too, as the Red Sea serves as the gateway to the Suez Canal, upon which Cairo relies for crucial foreign revenue. Canal revenues are currently around half of what they were before the Houthis first started attacking Red Sea shipping in 2023, a campaign they said was in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Qatar warned of dire consequences if Bab al-Mandab was closed, saying it would be “catastrophic for the entire world.” The Houthis have also targeted oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading crude exporter, helping push global prices above the $100-a-barrel threshold. Riyadh’s retaliatory strikes have failed to reverse the recent gains made by the Houthis, which claimed on Wednesday they had shot down a Saudi fighter jet. A US military task force is working to enhance intelligence-sharing and planning assistance for Saudi forces, a US official told AFP on Tuesday.
© 2024 AFP
